7th District Childcare Plan
Rural Childcare & Workforce Initiative
A plan to keep families in the 7th District — and workers in the workforce.
Plan Summary
Childcare Is Workforce Infrastructure
Ron McCoy’s Rural Childcare & Workforce Initiative treats childcare as a practical workforce issue. The plan supports local providers, uses existing buildings, partners with employers, trains the next generation of childcare workers, and helps rural communities compete for existing childcare funds without creating new local taxes.
The Problem
Childcare Is Not Just a Family Issue
Childcare is one of the largest workforce shortages facing rural communities. Across the 7th District, families are struggling to find affordable childcare. Employers are struggling to find workers. Providers are struggling with staffing shortages, facility costs, and regulatory hurdles.
A Childcare Problem
Licensed care is scarce or entirely unavailable for many rural families in the district, especially in remote rural areas.
A Workforce Problem
Employers cannot fill positions when workers cannot find childcare. Rural businesses lose workers to communities with better options.
A Community Problem
When families leave to find childcare, communities shrink, tax bases erode, schools lose students, and the spiral accelerates.
What the Research Shows
One in five rural parents struggles to find or keep a job due to childcare challenges, and childcare shortages cost Washington employers billions in turnover and missed work.
How This Could Work
Picture a medical assistant in Newport who works part-time because childcare is unavailable during her shift hours. Her clinic is short-staffed. Patients wait longer for appointments.
Under a voluntary Tri-Share model, her employer helps offset childcare costs. She works full time. The clinic stays staffed. Patients get care faster.
This is why childcare is economic infrastructure.
The Goal
Local People Creating Local Solutions
Increase access to affordable childcare while supporting local businesses, strengthening the workforce, and minimizing the burden on taxpayers by leveraging existing resources whenever possible.
The Action Plan
The 5-Phase Childcare Plan
Ron’s plan targets root causes: provider shortages, facility costs, workforce training, employer participation, and rural access to existing funds.
| Phase | What Ron Supports |
|---|---|
| 1. Help Local Providers Start & Grow | Help rural communities compete for Washington’s existing Early Learning Facilities grants to support home-based providers, small childcare businesses, nonprofits, and faith-based programs. Funding should prioritize documented rural shortages and waiting lists. |
| 2. Put Existing Buildings Back to Work | Use vacant commercial buildings, unused classrooms, community centers, faith-based facilities, and other suitable public or private structures to create safe, licensed childcare spaces faster and cheaper than new construction. |
| 3. Partner with Employers | Use voluntary cost-sharing between employers, employees, and private philanthropic or matching partners. Hospitals, manufacturers, agricultural employers, mills, school districts, and small businesses can gain a tool to recruit and retain workers without a local tax increase. |
| 4. Train the Next Generation | Build training pathways through high school CTE programs, community college tracks, apprenticeships, and workforce development organizations. This creates local jobs and addresses the provider shortage without requiring a four-year degree. |
| 5. Childcare Shortage Response Program | Prioritize communities that demonstrate long waiting lists, insufficient capacity, and documented workforce impacts for Child Care and Development Block Grant funding already allocated to Washington. |
Fiscal Responsibility
No New Local Taxes
This plan does not require new local taxes or expensive one-size-fits-all government programs.
What This Plan Uses
- Existing facilities rather than costly new construction.
- Employer partnerships and private providers.
- Existing workforce training resources.
- Federal CCDBG funding already allocated to Washington.
What This Plan Does Not Do
- Create new local tax increases.
- Build expensive government-run childcare centers.
- Add new regulatory mandates on local businesses.
- Create new state bureaucracies or programs from scratch.
Frequently Asked Questions
Real Questions Voters Ask About Childcare
Isn’t this just another government program?
No. This plan directs existing federal dollars that Washington already receives — money our residents have already paid in taxes. It is about making sure rural communities get their fair share, not creating a new bureaucracy.
What about taxes?
This plan is built on employer partnerships, existing grants, existing buildings, and federal block grant funds already allocated to Washington. No new local taxes. Period.
Will the government run these childcare centers?
No. The goal is to help local people — home providers, nonprofits, churches, and small businesses — create and run local solutions. Government removes barriers. It does not run the operation.
Why is this a senator’s job?
Because the barriers are legislative: licensing red tape, facility regulations, and workforce training funding. A state senator can cut through what local communities cannot fix on their own.
What if businesses do not want to participate?
Participation is voluntary. But employers who cannot fill positions because workers lack childcare have a direct financial incentive to help solve the problem.
Platform Connection
How This Connects to the Rural Independence Plan
Childcare does not stand alone. It is a load-bearing pillar connecting healthcare, economic development, housing, and youth retention into a single self-reinforcing ecosystem.
Clinics Need Workers
Nurses, medical assistants, and clinic staff cannot work full shifts without childcare. Childcare shortages directly contribute to the rural healthcare workforce shortage.
Employers Need Staff
Mills, hospitals, schools, farms, and small businesses all lose workers to communities with better childcare options. Childcare is economic infrastructure.
Young Families Need a Future
Young adults are more likely to stay in the 7th District and build a future here if they can raise a family locally.
Families Need Both
Affordable housing and accessible childcare together determine whether a family can stay in a community. Both need to be solved together.
Measurable Goals
What Success Looks Like
These are the measurable outcomes Ron commits to tracking and reporting publicly throughout his first term.
| Phase | 4-Year Target | Connected Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1: Local Providers | Secure ELF grants for at least three rural home-based or nonprofit childcare providers. | Helps local people create local solutions in documented childcare deserts. |
| Phase 2: Building Conversions | Convert at least one vacant commercial or faith-based space into licensed childcare. | Reduces facility overhead and speeds licensing pathways for rural providers. |
| Phase 3: Tri-Share Pilot | Launch at least one voluntary Tri-Share pilot program with a major employer in the district. | Gives local employers a proven tool to recruit and retain staff without a tax increase. |
| Phase 4: Training Pipeline | Expand early childhood CTE and apprenticeship slots by 15% across the district. | Builds a local career pipeline that does not require a four-year degree. |
The Bottom Line
Parents should not have to choose between earning a paycheck and finding safe childcare. Employers should not lose workers because childcare options do not exist. Communities should have the tools they need to create local solutions for local families.
By supporting providers, training workers, utilizing existing buildings, and encouraging employer partnerships, we can strengthen families, strengthen businesses, and strengthen the future of the 7th District.
Contact Ron’s TeamPaid for by the Committee to Elect Ron McCoy.